Daniel Kahneman is a psychologist who won the Nobel Prize in 2002 for contributions to Economics. He has combined his insights of psychology and applied them to Economics and created the fascinating subject called Behavioral Economics. He currently is professor emeritus of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University.

Thinking Fast and Slow introduces us to the two kinds of thinking we use – System1 and System 2. System 1 is the part of our thinking that is fast and intuitive. We use System 1 for almost all of our day-to-day actions and decisions, like brushing our teeth or talking to friends. It is the mind’s autopilot, so to speak, and we are essentially not aware of it. System 2, the slow aspect of our thinking that deliberates and uses deductive reasoning. System 1 is fast; it’s intuitive, associative, metaphorical, automatic, impressionistic, and it can’t be switched off. Hence it has a tendency to use broad heuristics or rules of thumb to go through life.If you were asked to find the answer to 17 x 23 as you are driving a car in high speed and around a sharp bend (please do not do it) you will discover it is impossible to do it without focusing entirely on the math and involving System 2 thinking. That is the slow, deliberate act of thinking.

If you are asked to count the number of occurrences of the letter a in this article, you have to use System 2 or even when you tell someone your phone number. We always tend to think of ourselves as having only System 2 thinking – deliberate, rational and without bias. We are mistaken. Watch this video for a great example:

The next time you are walking with a friend ask that person to compute 23 x 75 and to do so immediately. The person will stop. This mental effort uses the same resources as the act of act of exercising self control. So if you are asked to remember a seven digit number like 5924618 for the next two minutes and also have to choose between a bar of chocolate and a healthy salad, it is hard to choose the salad. If you were to write an important exam, make sure you are well rested and not hungry when you write the test – you will do better. That will prevent System 2 from getting distracted. If you have exercised self control by eating virtuous food and saying no to the chocolates, you will give up sooner while attempting challenging mental tasks. Mental choices that involve conflict deplete your self control. If you have spent the whole day in office pretending to smile at your annoying colleague you are likely to be extra snappy at home that evening. You are more likely to be influenced by commercials when you are tired and depleted. Now you know why they air those tele-shopping programs at night when you are REALLY tired.

Do not try to solve this puzzle. But listen to your intuition:

A bat and ball cost $1.10. The bat costs one dollar more than the ball. The cost of the ball is $___

The number that came to your mind is 10 cents. That is your system 1 responding. System 2 is lazy. It needs to be nudged to be put to work. Impulsive people find it hard to delay gratification and often make poor choices. Those who are able to resist the System 1 thinking show higher measure of executive control in cognitive tasks. They can reallocate their attention effectively. There is a close correlation between being able to control your attention and your ability to control your emotions. Fortunately this too can be learned.

What do you think of Alan and Ben?

Alan: Intelligent – industrious – impulsive – critical  stubborn – envious

Ben: envious – stubborn – critical – impulsive – industrious – intelligent

Most view Alan more favorably. The initial traits list changes the meaning of the traits that appear later. So the sequence in which we observe the characteristics of a person matters.

System 1 creates thumb rules that make it easy for us to go through the routine tasks of life and its ability to judge threats quickly keeps us safe. Yet if we do not engage System 2 thinking then we will be victims of bias and stereotypes.

I could go on and on about all the cognitive biases that we are victims of. Kahneman writes with the skill of a storyteller as he lures you to the unexplored corners of your mind. The anecdotes, the research, the little tricks in every chapter make this book unputdownable. the chapters are short and put in simple language.  Some are easier to read than others (System 1 and 2 at work I suspect).

I would give this book a 5 star rating if I were to be guided by System 1. Then I told myself that let me not get carried away and use System 2 to rate the book. In that case I would give it a 5 star rating. That is easy.

The most influential book I have read this year – for sure. Highly recommended.

—————-

Watch Kahneman in this video

Actor Pankaj Kapoor makes his debut as a director with the film Mausam (weather). Maybe that’s why the film ran into rough weather and its release got delayed. The Indian Air Force objected to a 30 second fight sequence not being authentic enough. Heck this is supposed to be a movie and not a training video, guys. Besides the HR folks in the Air Force can use snippets of this film to run your recruitment campaigns. No need to use clips from Top Gun – we have our very own Shahid doing that act.

Mausam is a love story between a pilot Harry played by the director’s son Shahid Kapoor and a Kashmiri refugee, Aayat (lovely name. It means a prayer) played by Sonam Kapoor or should I say So Numb Kapoor. The story opens in Mallukot village in Punjab where Harry woos the new Kashmiri girl who has come to live with her uncle in the village. Harry has eyes only for the new lass and ignores the overtures of Rajjo (played by Aditi Sharma – good job done gal!). The movie is awesome when it depicts rural Punjab. The collage of village life in Punjab follows the same visuals that will tug at the heartstrings of all those NRIs who yearn for life in rural Punjab but crib about the village roads when they are back for their annual vacation. Here is one more addition to songs that get played at weddings – Saj dhaj ke सज धज के

The songs by Pritam is lovely. I love the use of the use of Ustad Rashid Khan‘s voice for the poignant Poore Se Zarra Kam Hai पूरे से ज़रा कम है  (trans: Somewhat less than complete…). Shots of life in rural Punjab to make NRIs all gooey: A+.  Ministry of Tourism will be using it to run “Incradible Injia” campaign.

Then we move to the next part of the story. Lovers (remember Shahid and So Numb?) get separated as they are thrown apart by the Babri Masjid demolitions (Dec ’92), Mumbai Blasts (’93). Harry is now a big boy and a fighter pilot training in Scotland. He wears Ray ban Aviator glasses and walks with a swagger.  Pankaj Kapoor gets A+ for making what will be the best recruitment ad for the Indian Air Force.

In the second half, the story starts to get ‘complexer and complexer’ (apologies Alice). Everything from 9/11, to Ahmedabad riots to persecution of Muslims, to lovers not being able to come together is thrown into the second half along with the lovers, an abandoned girl child and a horse (honest). If that is not making sense to you, relax. It did not make sense to anyone else either. The say politics makes strange bedfellows. this film shows that lovers cannot become bedfellows if the story throws in national and international politics. Here is a guide for you:

1. You have seen only the first half of the film: You are smart.
2. You have seen the first half and 15 minutes of the second half: Hmmm … you are beginning to worry me
3. You’ve hung around till the end: The film is beginning to look like the economy. Going downhill.

Shahid Kapoor: A

So Numb Kapoor: B

OVERALL: Farhan Akhtar’s debut film Dil Chahta Hai is hard to beat as a debut film, but let me just say that Pankaj Kapoor’s film certainly deserves to be viewed. If Dil Chahta Hai gave us the “actor” Saif Ali for the first time, Mausam gives us Shahid.

Rating 3.1958 out of 5 (the 0.1958 was for effort)

————————————-

Read about Shahid Kapoor’s performance in Kaminey

While Pankaj Kapoor is new to directing a film, he is a seasoned matured actor. He did a superb job in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) and as the carrot chewing sleuth in the television series Karamchand (1985), he was in his element. Ek Ruka Huaa Faisla (1986) was a film made for television by Basu Chatterjee that had Pankaj Kapoor play an unforgettable role as a Juror. This story was based onHenry Fonda’s classic 12Angry Men (1957). Pankaj Kapoor got his first National Film Award in1989 with Raakh. I would however rate his performance as Abbaji in Vishal Bhardwaj’s film Maqbool (2003) as perhaps his best performance on screen. He got the National Award for Best Supporting Actor for that performance.

Ask any publisher and they will tell you that people do not buy poetry. I have never understood why it does not make commercial sense to buy poetry. When I look at my bookshelf the number of poetry I have is abysmally small as compared to works of fiction. Poetry is hard to appreciate if you do not have the same sensitivity about the subject of the poem as the poet. If that is not hard enough, it gets harder when someone translates the poems that someone else has written. UNLESS the one translating the book is Gulzar.

Mera saaya jab mujhse aage nikla

Mujhe maloom thha suraj ko peechhe

ChHor aayi hoon

मेरा साया जब मुझसे आगे निकला
मुझे मालूम था सूरज को पीछे
छोड़ आई हूँ

When my shadow

Overtook me

I knew

I had crossed the sun

Sukrita Paul Kumar‘s poems have been translated into the Urdu laced Hindi that is typical of Gulzar.

There is a constant

sound of footsteps

From behind

Looking back will

demolish all hope

सुनाई देती है पीछे पीछे
किसी के क़दमों की चाप पैहम
जो मुड़के देखूं …
उम्मीद भी कट जाएगी |

Gulzar

I tried reading some of the poems in English and then read the translation in the mirror page. And then read a few of the poems in Hindi to savor the experience of mentally translating the poem back to English to see how much of the poem matched the printed translation. And then I read all the poems in English.At one stage I lost track of which one was the originally written poem and which one was the translation.

Sukrita brings in the influences of her Punjabi family, of her childhood in Africa, growing up in Aurangabad and the influences of Delhi where she currently lives. She is an honorary fellow of the prestigious International Writing Program, University of Iowa. She knows the grammar and knows what makes for the soul of a poem. See this is what makes her poems resonate with the reader. The word “Sukrita” means born of good deed – this book certainly lives upto that name.

And if there is just one word to describe the translations by Gulzar, it is brilliant. And then you will say I am biased. Yes, I am.

His website describes him as “Gulzar, is a poet above all things. His style marks a sensitivity that is best reflected through his writing and treatment of films. He is one of those sensitive people whose work is laced with the lyrical but psychologically adept examination of human sensibilities.” It is this sensitivity that comes bridges the language barrier effortlessly.

Gulzar with his two day old stubble, white kurta and shawl and deep voice fits everyone’s image of the poet who sensitizes all of us as he narrates his poems. Speaking of his poems, here is a favorite of mine. Gulzar recites his poem as it blends in with the vocals of Shubha Mudgal in the film Raincoat – Kisi mausam ka jhonka thha (trans: A gust of wind it was perhaps that left the picture on the wall forever tilted). Visualize raindrops trickling down your window pane when you hear this poem.

किसी मौसम का झोंका था
जो इस दीवार पे लटकी हुयी तस्वीर तिरछी कर गया है
गए सावन में यह दीवारें सीली नहीं थी
न जाने क्यूँ इस दफा इन में सीलन आ गयी है, दरारें पड़ गयी हैं
और सीलन इस तरह बहती है जैसे खुश्क रुखसार पर गीले आंसू चलते हैं
यह बारिश गुनगुनाती थी इसी छत की मुंडेरों पर
ये घर की खिडकियों के कांच पर लिख जाती थी संदेशे
बिलखती हुई सी बैठी रहती है अब बंद रोशनदानो के पीछे
दोपेहरें ऐसी लगती हैं – बिना मोहरों के खली खाने रखे हैं
न कोई खेलने वाला है बाज़ी न कोई चाल चलता है
अब न दिन होता है न रात होती है
सभी कुछ रुक सा गया है
वह क्या मौसम का झोंका था जो इस दीवार पे लगी तस्वीर को तिरछी कर गया है ||

This is the skill of Gulzar. He removes the chasm between the original and the translation in the book Poems Come Home. Pick up the book. On a rainy afternoon, sit near the window, watch the rain and read the poems as the different moods of the rain from the drizzle to the torrential downpour all make the poems resonate just a little more.

Recommended

PS: I am now waiting for Gulzar’s upcoming book called A Poem A Day that will have 365 poems – from poets across the world, all translated by Gulzar. Can’t wait for that one.

—————-

Watch this brilliant discussion on the evolution of Hindi film music at the Jaipur Literary Festival featuring Gulzar, Prasoon Joshi and Javed Akhtar Click Here

Tiger Hill, Dras

In the post called Snapshots from Kashmir I had detailed my trip through the Jammu and Kashmir region. From the Kashmir valley to Dras was a memorable drive. This post takes off from where that post ended.

Day 3: Dras-Kargil-BudhKarbo

Dras is cold. Winters are extremely harsh with average lows around -22 C (-10F), and as low as -45 C at the height of winter, which lasts from mid-October to mid-May. I can see the  the Yulboh village and Gindyal village separated by the Dras river. There is a model outside my room that marks Batra Top, Tiger Hill, 5100 and Tololing. At a height of 10,700 feet approx, the rarefied oxygen makes breathing fairly labored. But that did not seem to deter our brave soldiers. The inhabitants of Dras, are Dard, Indo-Aryan people believed to have originally migrated to Ladakh from Central Asia. They speak Shina, a Dardic language. (Learn to speak the days of the week in Shina Language here)

I went to see the War Memorial was getting decked up to celebrate Vijay Diwas (Operation Victory Day) on 26 July to mark India’s victory in the Kargil war. The only thing on my mind as I looked at the long list of martyrs was that we can never do enough to repay our debt to the armed forces.

Two Rivers Two Colors

We drive towards Kargil and follow the gushing and excitable Dras river to our left. The river is a mix of greenish liquid with rapids that would make for great river rafting. But the mood in the car is sombre.

Kargil Town

From Dras to Kargil.  Kargil could easily pass off for a small town in the hills. It is indistinguishable from another. The Shiru river garlands Kargil town. We stop at Shilitsi village to pick ripe apricots and ponder why there are so many portraits of Ayatollah Khomeini in Kargil. I must have counted at least 20 portraits of Ayatollah Khomeini on the way to Kargil. I even saw some people dressing like that We pass by the occasional gang of bikers who are doing the Dras-Kargil-Leh route on their motorbikes.

Villager in Shilitsi near Kargil

Bikers at Kargil

The ride from Kargil (8780 feet) to the town of Budh Karbo (10750 feet) is dusty to say the least. The topography resembles gigantic red stone mountains that resemble dinosaurs that someone left incomplete to start carving another one and then changed their mind half way through only to start another. The mountains slowly mutate to start resembling the legs of gigantic elephants resting. I stop to see the giant Buddha carved in the Gompa at Chamba. The Chamba Gompa contains a 13.7 m high statue of the future Buddha that somehow reminds me of the Bamian Buddhas of Afghanistan. Next stop: the town of Budh Karbo.

Lady at Chamba Gompa

Budh Karbo literally means the Buddha People. This is the first village that is entirely Buddhist. I request an old lady dressed in traditional Tibetan clothes. She looks at the photo on my digital camera and tells me, “the photo is not as pretty as I am”. I loved her attitude

It is time to halt for the evening. It is time to enjoy Raga Yaman by Ustad Rashid Khan as the sun goes down in dusty town of Budh Karbo.

Sunset at Budh Karbo

Day 4: FutoLa – Lama Yuru – Nimmu – Leh

Fotu La top

We drive from Budh Karbo to Leh today. The first stop is Futola Pass – the highest point on the Srinagar-Leh route.  Fotu La or Fatu La is a mountain pass on the Srinagar-Leh highway in the Himalayas Zanskar Range in India. At an elevation of 13,000 ft, it is the highest point on the highway, surpassing the famed Zoji La. Fotu La is one of two high mountain passes between Leh and Kargil, the other being Namika La.

Praying at Lamayuru Gompa

Then stop to see the 11th century Buddhist Gompa at Lamayuru – one of the largest and oldest gompas in Ladakh, with a population of around 150 permanent monks resident. It has, in the past, housed up to 400 monks, many of which are now based in gompas in surrounding villages. Lamayuru is host to two annual masked dance festivals, in the second and fifth months of the Tibetan lunar calendar.

A senior monk is here today to offer prayers. The village folk are all here to offer their respects to the Lama.

Faces at Lamayuru

We see the Magnetic Mountain past the town of Nimmu as we are reaching the town of Leh. To test the theory of the Magnetic Mountain, I put the car in neutral gear and made it stationery. Would the car start moving on its own if the stories are to be believed. Yes, the car does move back ever so slowly… but it does.

Leh

Finally we reach Leh.  The view of the city on the banks of the Indus river is absolutely breathtaking. At more than 10,000 feet elevation, you need to get acclimatized. Especially tourists who fly in to Leh from cities outside of Kashmir are advised to spend two days just relaxing in the hotel to avoid getting struck by High Altitude Pulmonary Odema.

Leh: The Sky is so blue

Day 5: Changla Pass – Pangong Lake -Tangtse

At 17,586 feet Chang La is a delight

The Changla Pass is the main gateway for the Changthang Plateau situated in the Himalayas. It is home to the nomadic tribes of the region the Chang-pa. I was on my way to Pangong Tso. Tso is the word for Lake in the Ladakhi language.

At 14000 feet, Pangong Tso is probably the single biggest reason to visit Ladakh. The journey from Leh to Pangong Tso is a gruelling 6 hour journey (one way) but it is so worth it. The lake made famous by the film Three Idiots (Read my review here). The journey to Pangong is amazing as you cross the snaking roads through the hills complete with Pashmina Goats also called Changthangi whose coat yields the fiber that Pashmina shawls are made of.

The Pashmina Goat

You also get to see the nomads herding the Yaks – the female is called a Dri. Each one of those yaks costs Rs30,000. So when you see the nomads who are herding 150-200 of the Yaks you can do a quick calculation to find out their net worth!!

Yaks and Dri Grazing

After the grueling journey through roads that make your stomach churn when I finally reached Pangong Tso, I was hypnotized by its beauty. I have never clicked so many pictures even of the Taj Mahal. The color of the lake is a beautiful shade of blue.

The breathtaking blue of Pangong Tso

Pangong Tso

You have to see this for yourself. If you have not seen Ladakh, then plan this as your next holiday destination.And now for some more pictures of that gorgeously beautiful place. Enjoy.

The surreal landscape of Ladakh

Cham Dance at Phyang Monastry

Map of Jammu & Kashmir Source: MapsofIndia.com

I finally had an opportunity to criss cross Jammu & Kashmir by road. Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It consists of three divisions – the foothill plains of Jammu, the Kashmir Valley and the mountains of Ladakh.

The route was

Day 1: Udhampur-Jammu-Ramban-Pampore-Srinagar

I started in Udhampur which is in the plains and crossed Srinagar through the Jawahar Tunnel. This 2.5 kilometer long tunnel, dug through a mountain of Pir Panjal range, is the main link that connects Kashmir to the rest of the country. I stop to see the saffron flower fields of Pampore. The town was home to two of the most famous Kashmiri poetesses Lala Ded and Habba Khatoon – commonly known as Zoon.

Kashmir Valley - the first view from Jawahr Tunnel

The rivers we cross on the first day are the river Tawi, Chenab and Jhelum. Each river has its own distinct mood, color and tempo. Below Jammu the river crosses into Pakistan, and then joins the Chenab. The Jhelum – also known as Vitasta river,  is also a tributary of Chenab. Jhelum is the largest of the five rivers that makes Punjab known as the land of five rivers – Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, Beas.

Day 2: Srinagar – Sonmarg- Dras

There was a Bandh (road blockade) announced in the Valley that day. Our hosts advised us to leave Srinagar before 10am to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. We stop at Dal Lake and see the picture postcard view of the little boats (known as Shikaras).

Shikaras in Dal Lake

There is an uneasy calm in the city. The presence of the army and the Police can’t be missed. The lake is lined up with the majestic Chinar Trees – which are now protected. If you see the base of a Chinar tree painted white, then it is marked as protected and cannot be felled. There is a small island in the middle of Dal Lake called Char Chinar (named after the 4 Chinar trees growing there).  I can see the white dome of the Hazratbal Mosque in the horizon which houses a hair of the Prophet.

Each little town that we pass after Srinagar has erected checkposts where locals stop the vehicles to collect “tax”.The presence of the Indian Army is unmistakable everywhere. Their presence is visible even as we drive past the verdant paddy fields and the highway on our way to Sonamarg.

Faces from Kashmir

Don't miss the color of the river behind the milestone

Sonamarg, at an altitude of 3,000 metres above sea level, is about 90 km north-east of Srinagar. The drive to Sonamarg (Trans: meadow of gold) is through the breathtaking Sindh Valley. About 50 miles long, the valley and gorge opens to grassy meadows that are dotted with millions of daisies growing wild.

Sonamarg

Daisies growing wild in Sonmarg

The villages that dot Sonamarg are sparsely populated. The village girls are herding their goats back home.They are amused at the tourists who want to click photos of every square inch of the valley. They can never understand these crazy tourists. They smile as they whisper among themselves.

We are late. We should have left for Dras by lunch. But there is no sign of the car and the driver. It is almost 6pm when we start the climb up the mountain from Baltal – 15 km from Sonamarg. This little valley lies at the foot of the ZojiLa, only a day’s journey away from the sacred cave of Amarnath. We have to cross the Zoji La pass to reach Dras where I have to spend the night. Actually the word “La” itself means a pass in the Ladakhi language. So just calling Zoji Pass is fine.

We start the climb towards Zoji L. Visibility is poor ...

Visibility is poor. The road to Zojila is clogged with groaning trucks carrying supplies. It is a single road and once you are caught in that convoy, there is no way we can overtake the trucks on that narrow road. We now need to spend the night in the car as the trucks huff and puff through the climb like a fat person on a treadmill. Sonu asks me if he can take a “shortcut” to Zojila. The light is failing. We need to decide fast. Sonu turns the car. I hold my breath.

Sonu - the best driver ever

Sonu starts climbing the face of the mountain. This will take us up in 40 minutes. Thats got to be the longest forty minutes of my life.  He is actually following the “path” made by a dried up mountain spring. There are twenty eight hair pin bends. I don’t respond because I am clenching my teeth. Sonu tells me that when he drives his family to Zojila he takes this path despite his mother’s protests and she calms her nerves by singing bhajan (hymns) loudly all the way up. By now it is pitch dark. As Sonu takes one hairpin after the other he has to stop the Xylo that he is driving, go back a few feet almost at the edge of the road. I avoid looking at the sheer drop.Sonu keeps the riunning commentary going.  “It is always better to do this climb up this route at night. The passengers cannot see how narrow the road is and so they stay calm.” He tells me that he had spent a month driving Barkha Dutt the TV Anchor when she covering the Kargil War.

After what seems like a never ending night, Sonu tells me that the climb is over. We are now passing through Zojila and points out the glacier gleaming in the moonlit night. I gasp for breath. This is beautiful. Beethoven must have seen such a sight to have composed the Moonlight Sonata. We are at 11,500 feet now as we cross the glaciers that line up one side of the road.

I reach the town of Dras. National Highway 1D passes through Dras connecting Srinagar and Leh. In 1999 the Tiger Hill and Tololing ranges were captured by the Pakistani army and could directly block National Highway 1D. The famous three heights which were recaptured during the war were the Tololing, Tiger Hill and The Three Pimples. Dras is said to be the second coldest place (inhabited) on earth after Siberia.

Lots to do tomorrow. But for now, it is time to tuck myself under the quilt and sleep.

Dras - the scene of the Kargil war in 1999